The invention relates to an improved arrangement for the collection and analysis of alveolar breath. Surprisingly it has been found that by condensing water vapor present in a breath sample, enhanced detection of volatile organic components is achieved.
Normal mammalian breath, including human alveolar breath contains a large number of volatile organic compounds in low concentrations (nanomolar or picomolar). Many of these compounds originate from the capillary blood; they enter the alveoli of the lungs by diffusion across the pulmonary alveolar membrane. Therefore, the analysis of breath opens a unique window onto the composition of the blood.
The collection and analysis of the breath presents several technical difficulties, but may yield information of considerable medical interest. There is evidence that the composition of alveolar breath may be altered in several disorders, including lung cancer, liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, heart transplant rejection, renal failure and schizophrenia. The chemical analysis of breath therefore provides a non-invasive diagnostic test for the diagnosis of these and other diseases as set forth in the following publications and patents, all of which are incorporated by reference herein; Phillips M and Greenberg J: A method for the collection and analysis of volatile compounds in the breath. Journal of Chromatography. Biomedical Applications 1991; 564(1):242-249; Phillips M and Greenberg J: Ion-trap detection of volatile organic compounds in alveolar breath. Clinical Chemistry 1992; 38(1):60-66; Phillips M: Breath tests in medicine. Scientific American 1992; 267(1):74-79; Phillips M: Detection of carbon disulfide in breath and air: A possible new risk factor for coronary artery disease. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 1992; 64:119-123; Phillips M, Sabas M and Greenberg J: Increased pentane and carbon disulfide in the breath of patients with schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical Pathology 1993; 46:861-864; Phillips M, Sabas M and Greenberg J: Alveolar gradient of pentane in normal human breath. Free Radical Research Communications 1994; 20(5):333-337; Phillips M, Greenberg J and Awad J: Metabolic and environmental origins of volatile organic compounds in breath. Journal of Clinical Pathology 1994; 47:1052-1053; Phillips M, Erickson G A, Sabas M, Smith J P and Greenberg J: Volatile organic compounds in the breath of patients with schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical Pathology 1995; 48:466-469; Phillips M: Method for the collection and assay of volatile organic compounds in breath. Analytical Biochemistry 1997; 247:272-278; Phillips M, Gleeson K, Hughes J M B, Greenberg J, Cataneo R N, Baker L and McVay W P: Detection of volatile markers of lung cancer in alveolar breath. Lancet 1999; 353:1930-33; Phillips M, Herrera J, Krishnan S, Zain M, Greenberg J and Cataneo R N: Variation in volatile organic compounds in the breath of normal humans. Journal of Chromatography B 1999; 729:75-88; Phillips M, Greenberg J and Cataneo RN: Effect of age on the profile of alkanes in normal human breath. Free Radical Research 2000; 33:57-63; Phillips M, Cataneo R N, Greenberg J, Gunawardena R, Naidu A and Rahbari-Oskoui F: Effect of age on the breath methylated alkane contour, a display of apparent new markers of oxidative stress. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 2000:136:243-9.
The major technical difficulties in chemical analysis of breath arise from:
(1) the large numbers of volatile organic compounds (possibly 200 or more) found in breath and necessitating separation prior to assay (e.g.; by gas chromatography combined with mass spectroscopy) (GC/MS), and
(2) the very low concentration of the compounds, which are below the limits of sensitivity of currently available GC/MS instruments, therefore necessitating concentration of the breath prior to analysis.
The above-described difficulties may be circumvented by the use of a breath collecting apparatus which collects and concentrates the breath into a sample suitable for assay by GC/MS. However, the design and operation of an effective breath collecting apparatus presents a number of technical requirements:
(1) Subject comfort: the apparatus should present no significant resistance to exhalation (which might cause discomfort for the subject providing a breath sample).
(2) Subject safety: the apparatus should provide no hazard to the subject, such as exposure to potential sources of inhaled infectious microorganisms.
(3) Freedom from contamination: the apparatus should not incorporate any structural components such as plastics and adhesives containing volatile organic compounds which continuously out gas, causing contamination of the sample.
(4) Alveolar sampling: normal mammalian breath contains two components: the xe2x80x9cdead spacexe2x80x9d breath originating from the pharynx, trachea and bronchial tree where no gaseous interchange occurs, and alveolar breath from the alveoli of the lungs which contains the volatile organic compounds of interest which have diffused from the blood. The sample should be drawn principally from alveolar breath, not dead space breath.
(5) Site of use: The arrangement should be transportable to the site of use, for example, a patient""s bedside in a hospital or the point of use in the field.
(6) Concentration of sample: The ultimate purpose of the apparatus is to concentrate volatile organic compounds in the alveolar breath, while allowing the nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide in the breath to escape unhindered. The commonest concentration techniques are cryogenic (i.e.; capture in a cold trap), adsorptive (i.e.; capture in a trap containing an adsorptive resin or some other binding agent) or chemical (i.e.; capture by interaction with a chemical compound).
Unfortunately, mammalian breath is saturated with water vapor, which frequently interferes with the concentration and/or analysis of the volatile organic compounds of interest in the alveolar breath. Water vapor condenses onto cool surfaces. This may potentially result in partitioning of volatile organic compounds in the gaseous phase into the aqueous phase, with a consequent depletion of volatile organic compounds in the analyzed specimen.
Consequently, arrangements for the collection of alveolar breath such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,728, which is incorporated by reference herein, have typically required the use of heating systems in order to avoid condensation of the water vapor and depletion of the desired volatile organic compounds.
Accordingly, there is a need for an arrangement for the collection and analysis for alveolar breath which avoids the depletion of volatile organic compounds and which does not require heating systems to prevent the condensation of water vapor in the alveolar breath.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved by an arrangement for collection of alveolar breath into a breath reservoir comprising a hollow container having a first end and a second end, a breath entry portal proximal to the first end, a breath exit portal proximal to the second end, and a sampling portal between the end and exit portal. A condensation unit connected to the sampling portal removes water vapor present in the alveolar breath.
Surprisingly, it has been observed that contrary to the expectations of those skilled in the art, promoting condensation of the water vapor in alveolar breath, rather then depletion, actually results in enhanced concentration of volatile organic compounds in alveolar breath.